Broken Mirrors
by Shadow of Eckhart
Summary: It's the end of summer for Ulrich, he hasn't done anything wild, and he hasn't gone on an adventure. However, when he and his friends are caught up in an impromptu city lockdown, they'll have to fight people and pokemon alike just to survive.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Oh, hello.

My name's Ulrich Sigous, I don't know if there's anything interesting to say about me. I've never liked talking much, but people seem to enjoy talking to me a lot more than I think they should. I can explain my reasoning simply.

I've moved around a lot in my early years. I would make friends for a year and lose them the next. It hurts moving away from people you've become close to, suddenly breaking off links, forming more, then losing it all again. So, I just stopped trying to make friends by the age of ten.

By the time I was thirteen my parents had finally moved up high enough in the corporation they worked at to stop travelling. However, I had already given up on sociality, I was scared that once I made friends that I would lose it all again. This was a rule I lived by for the past four years, the only exception I made was for my Kricketot who I've had for as long as I can remember.

Because of my demeanor, I was and I still am labelled anti-social by society, their reasons are pretty clear to me. I don't talk much, I'm not good-looking or particularly smart, and I can count how many friends I have with one hand. However, my friends always seem to enjoy talking to me despite these facts for whatever reason.

That one year I spent in middle school wasn't good or bad, however it was uneventful to say the least. It made me realize something about my life. I had my pokemon like everyone else, I wasn't threatening people to give me their lunch money or being threatened, and I didn't receive awards. My lifestyle was different from the lives of everyone else and ordinary at the same time. I would walk in, soak up information, and walk out. I didn't stay after school to join any teams or club, I didn't stay behind to watch or take partake in any pokemon battles which happened frequently outside the school. I wasn't happy with it, but I was content.

It was when I entered high school that I actually talked to someone. No, it wasn't because he noticed something special about me or anything, he just wanted to talk. It started off as idle chatter about teachers we shared, he did most of the talking. He introduced himself to me as Raymond, and I returned the gesture. That same day, Raymond introduced me to his friends, Gabrielle and Michael. I was awkward around them, and I made a fool of myself several times over that day, every time I did they would just laugh and smile at me.

I told myself it was pity, even though I knew it wasn't. Seeing what I wanted to believe made my life easier, or at least that's what I thought.

It was a week after I met them that my perspective changed, I was walking with Raymond, Michael, and Gabrielle when I noticed the whispers I heard behind my back. None of them were derogatory, but hearing people talk about me was nauseating. Why did I have to be the subject of so many random conversations?

_"I heard that in middle school he didn't have any friends."_

_"It's because he never talks, right?"_

_"Someone told me that he spends every night at his house alone."_

All of these statements were true, but hearing it from another person's mouth made me feel like I was being pressed against reality. The words made me feel sick on the inside, only because I didn't want to swallow those facts and accept the truth.

I stopped walking and lowered my head to look at my feet. Raymond, Michael and Gabrielle stopped to look at me when they realized I was no longer walking. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they were confused, and after a few moments of silence they picked up the voices I had been hearing.

This was when I thought they'd leave me and continue home, or maybe they'd just tell me to keep walking. I was wrong, and this memory makes me smile even today.

"Shut up." Michael said. His voice caused me to jump in surprise and the kids that were talking turned their heads and looked at him with confusion on their faces.

"You shouldn't talk about someone you don't know, is what he's saying." Gabrielle explained. The gossipers just shrugged and walked away. The rest of the walk was quiet, and it wasn't until we were about to part ways that I said my thanks.

Raymond simply replied with the four words which make me smile even today, "what are friends for?"

As the rest of the school year passed, I gradually began to return to how I was before I closed myself off, and when the last day of school ended, I thought to myself that my life was finally normal again.

But, it was exactly the opposite. That summer was the end of the ordinary for me, my friends, and everyone else who managed to get involved in the trial that was given to humanity.


	2. An End to the Ordinary: The First Day

The sun was beating down harshly against me as I adjusted my hat to provide further shade. Crowds of people passed by me, each one engulfed in their own affairs as I stood in the middle of the Castellia town plaza. The heat of the sun, combined with the large crowd of people around made me irritable. Even with the harsh heat, many people still came out to enjoy the last eight days of summer with their friends and pokemon; me included. My friends and I had decided to leave Nimbasa amd head to Castelia for a bit of shopping and fun.

As I turned around I picked up the sounds and sights of the nearby park; it was teeming with battling trainers and little kids staring in awe at the pokemon their siblings had. Squeals and laughs filled the air as well as the cries of pokemon, rumbling of cars, and my grumbling.

"They're late, late, late." I muttered to myself as I strained my neck to look over the waves of people passing by me.

"Hey, Ulrich! Over here!" A voice called. I turned to see Michael's thick wave of brown hair and arm waving from somewhere in the crowd.

I slowly walked over, and as I was about to greet him I was suddenly tackled with a hug from behind, followed by a sudden shout of, "SNEAK ATTACK HUG!"

"Gah!" I shouted, stumbling at the sudden weight on my back. I turned my head around to glare at the person clinging to my neck.

"You're late." Raymond said, he drawled out the word for extra emphasis, knowing I hated it when people did so, however, he ignored my glares and continued talking, "but not as late as Gabrielle. She even had the nerve to call me last night to remind me not to be late."

"I'm sure she'll be here soon." I snapped back, "now will you please get off me!"

Raymond complied with a small playful pout on his face and muttered a quiet 'meanie'.

"See, there she is now!" Michael said happily.

"Sorry. I'm. Late." Gabrielle gasped between breaths.

"You better be! You made me get here extra early only to show up late yourself. What kind of person does that, Gabby?" Raymond said as a smile curved on his mouth.

"I told you to stop calling me that! Even the teachers call me that now!" Gabrielle shouted, her face turning light red. She raised her bag threateningly and Raymond started to jog around as Gabrielle chased him leaving me and Michael to laugh at the scene.

"Wait, why were you late?" I asked, causing Gabrielle to stop running.

"Oh, well I was walking here when I met up with this lady who was giving out fortunes. So, I gave her my palm and she told me I'd be needing these." Gabrielle began fishing through her bag, and after a minute she pulled out four pokedexes.

"Woah, cool!" Raymond said, picking up a dark blue one and examining it, "aren't these the newest version? Why would she give you them?"

"Hm, beats me. She said that they were important." Gabrielle replied, picking up a pink one of her own. "I was going to ask her more but I got pushed aside by people who saw them and asked her for one."

"Well, they don't look like they're rigged with an exploding device. " Michael said, inspecting his red one. Seriously? That's the first thing he had to say? "However, it doesn't look like it'll open up."

"Well, we should probably register our pokemon with the pokedex first anyway." I said. The pokedex looked brand new; the cover shone in the sun, the lens was unsmudged, and it had that new machine smell. I took some time to examine it before clicking the yellow button on the side and positioning it so the lens of the pokedex was able to get my five pokeballs in its vision. A light flashed and registered all of my pokemon. Raymond, Michael, and Gabrielle all did the same as well. After the scan was completed all four covers popped up at once, letting us take a look at the screen. It was black with the occasional pulse of light coming from the center. The tabs were on top and the tab farthest to the left was giving off a faint green glow.

"Hm, it looks like an ordinary pokedex." Gabrielle said with a frown and obviously disappointed. She began inspecting it, turning it over, sideways, and under. What is she doing? Looking for a secret button?

"Wait, there's a new message in all of our inboxes." Michael pointed out, tapping the mail icon.

_Good Morning~_

_Today at 4:00 p.m. A man will be found dead, the bite marks on his neck are consistent with that of a Crobat's teeth._

___At 7:30 p.m. Four teenagers will be attacked and killed by a large pokemon in a cemetery._

_At 8:00 p.m. A black out will take out all of the electricity in the city._

_Have a nice day~_

Everyone's eyes were wide, including my own. I read the message again and felt a bit sick inside, my mind pictured the image of the bloodied body of a man and four teenagers in a cemetery. I groaned a little and forced myself to keep the bile down. This stuff can't possibly come true.

"This is a load of garbage." Gabrielle said, she shaked her head with a frown, "that fortune-telling lady must be pulling our leg or something."

"Yeah..." Raymond agreed, although his voice was a little shaky. I just nodded in agreement and all of us besides Michael hastily tucked our pokedexes away. We stood their silently for a few moments. I was personally hoping for one of my friends to speak up to end the awkwardness.

"Well, it's 1:00. We still have plenty of time to do something fun!" Raymond said as he took the initiative to leave. We followed with a smile, the message leaving our minds momentarily. We walked around town, taking time to stop at the arcade and several other stores. After doing some window shopping for himself and buying food Raymond asked us where we wanted to go.

"Let's head for the shopping district. It has the best of everything." Gabrielle said, she looked to the side and the far-off look on her face told me she was day-dreaming of the things she could buy. Raymond looked at me for help, I pretended not to see him and he scowled before reluctantly agreeing. Gabreilled squealed slightly before dragging us to her favorite stores. The shopping district was filled with the high-notes of screaming children, the middle range of the radios, and the low basses of rumbling cars. It all reminded me that summer was almost over and life was going to become boring for another ten months.

The loud argument between Gabrielle and Raymond snapped me out of my reverie, we had stopped at a plain white store with a glass window display case. Ignoring the wealthy looking people inside, with their silk dresses and tailored suits the store looked normal to me, but my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the price tags attached to the merchandise.

"Doesn't this purse look nice? But it's so expensive..."

"Eh, can we NOT shop for girl stuff when the majority of us are guys!" Raymond said, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

"Well, you asked me where we should go."

"I didn't think you'd drag us around for an hour and a half!"

"Fine, what do you suggest we do, Raymond?" Gabrielle retorted.

"We can go find people to battle of course, I bet there are tons of them in the park." Raymond said, pointing to the park's direction dramatically. We followed him blindly, not having anything better to do. When we got to the park, the sounds of laughter greeted us.

"Okay, we're at the park, Who do we ask for a battle? Everyone here is a kid." Michael said with a frown, he was still tinkering with the pokedex and the constant walking made it difficult for any specific investigation. I sighed, Michael always wants to find the answer to things that catch his curiosity.

"Oh look! It's Daryl!" Gabrielle pointed out. A male with atrociously long brown hair smiled and approached us. Daryl was Gabrielle's long time crush since forever ago, he was around two years older than us and a ranger to boot. We first met last year in a small city competition and she had been infatuated with him ever-since.

As he made his way towards us Gabrielle was waving the entire time to make sure he didn't lose us in the sea of children.

"Hi Gabrielle, long time no see. How've you been?" He asked with a wink.

"Just fine." Gabrielle replied with a small giggle and blush. Raymond was looking to the side with a scowl on his face, I was going to ask him what was wrong but before the words could leave my mouth, Daryl answered it.

"Aw, what's wrong Raymond? Still sore about our last battle?" Daryl asked in a mocking little kid voice. Raymond turned around quickly to glare daggers.

I sighed, Raymond and Daryl have had a rivaly ever since they met, sometimes it was funny but other times I just wasn't in the mood to hear them squabble. Even though those two argued to no end, I sometimes wondered if they were secretly best friends with each other. All the other girls at school that I knew seemed to enjoy thinking about it, except on a much more intimate level than I did.

"Critical luck! That's all it was! How about a battle right now?"

"Nope. I have to find someone, but ask when you get better and maybe I'll say yes." Daryl said with a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat's. He walked away, waving to us from the back. Raymond just "Hmphed" and looked away while Gabrielle still seemed to be in a dream. I looked at Michael for help, but he was still messing around with the pokedex.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when we were walking down the main street of the town. The sun was beginning to set, tinting the top of the sky a light pink, the middle orange, and bottom light blue.

"Man, those trainers were no fun at all." Raymond groaned, he was walking lazily with arms behind his head. He closed his eyes for a minute but when we all stopped at the loud whine of a siren he bumped into me abruptly. Raymond fell back a little before he noticed we weren't moving, "hey guys, did you turn into statues?"

"Shh, just listen." He closed his eyes and tried to listen, sirens could be heard from a short distance away.

"I wonder what happened..." Michael said in a murmur.

"Why don't we take a look?" Gabrielle suggested, and we all ran curiously towards the sound. When we got to the scene, there were police lines surrounding the perimeter of a building and people were gathered around in large lumps. Several of them whispered to each other so loudly that I was able to make out some of what they said.

_"I heard there was little to no blood left in the man."_

_"Hey dude, do you think a vampire did it?"_

_"Wasn't it just a Crobat?"_

My blood went cold. A dead man, bitten by a Crobat. I looked at my friends, each one equally in shock. Even though I saw no body I ran over to the nearest tree I could find and chocked up some saliva. When I returned, my friends were still standing there. But no one dared to bring up the warning we recieved. Even though I felt sick at the thought of the man, I also had a strange urging curiosity to know, "hey guys... What time is it?"

Michael's arm shook as he brought the watch on his arm up to his shifty eyes. He stalled for a bit before he answered question. "It's 4:00."

"No way." Gabrielle said in shock as she double-checked the message again. Raymond had his mouth open in disbelief and even though I knew the answer I was shocked myself. We slowly distanced ourselves from the crowd and walked as far away from the scene as we could.

"The message came true." I breathed out in shock when we stopped under a tree.

"No, this is getting way too creepy." Gabrielle said, she wrapped her arms around herself self-consciously trying to find security in them, "let's just go home.. please..."

"I agree." Michael replied. We all headed for the subway station in silence. People walked by us towards the scene of the death in curiosity, some of them even had cameras and cellphones out and this made me a bit frustrated. Like onlookers of a car crash, as long as it didn't happen to them they're dying to see. I felt like speaking out and yelling several times but Raymond told me to ignore them.

At the station the sounds of several voices yelling angrily in protest filled the air, but I couldn't see the target of their frustration. I tried to move around to see what was going on, but the action was in vain, there were far too many people in front of me. A loud mega-phoned voice boomed through the station area, trying to calm down the crowd.

"Everyone, there is a dangerous gas leak in the subway line. It is harmful to people and pokemon alike so please remain calm and wait until it is clear. " This same message was repeated to the crowd several times until they reluctantly accepted it and walked away. I looked at Michael for suggestions but he just shrugged which made me begin to panic.

"Does that mean we're stuck in Castelia?" Gabrielle asked in panic. Raymond had a worried look on his faces as well. I was feeling pretty scared myself, but put on a brave face for everyone else.

"We'll be stuck here until the government lets us out." A voice said from behind me. I jumped nearly six-feet in the air and turned around in surprise to meet a girl in a clean white dress-shirt.

"Who are you? Also, what do you mean?" Michael asked.

"All these barricades, it couldn't have been set up spontaneously. The government has been planning this for a while." The girl explained, "oh, my name. I'm Rae-Lynn professional news reporter in-training from Atoria, but just call me Rae."

"So, when will be let out?" Gabrielle asked rubbing her arm worriedly.

"Tomorrow? A week? A month? Never?" Rae shrugged with a grim look on her face, "no one knows."

I was going to argue, but she disappeared into a crowd. A dark note hung in the air leaving us shocked and disoriented for the third time that day.

"Come on guys, let's look for another way out." I suggested. Everyone nodded and followed me; even though I myself did not know where to go. We checked every station that we could walk to, each one had a small barricade of barbed wire and police tape; which prevented people from entering. Even the routes and gateways leading out of the city were blocked off.

That's when I realized that we were stuck, trapped just like Rae said.

We passed by several parks on the way, each one was filled with people. The adults seemed to be whispering nervously to each other while the children ran around; completely unaware of the situation they were in.

"What is going on?" Gabrielle asked, as all four of us sat down on a bench which was on a rather empty street.

"I don't know." Michael, Raymond and I chorused together. My stomach let out a loud growl and my face reddened up quickly.

"I guess I'm a little hungry." I say quietly. Raymond just let out a laugh and pulled out two sandwhiches, handing one to me.

"Chicken, your favorite right? Let's eat!" I thanked him and began to nibble on it slowly. Gabrielle and Michael pulled out their own lunches and we began to eat while also trying to cool ourselves off. Gabrielle sent out her Snowrunt to blow cold air on her face while Raymond had his Tropius fan us with its thick, green wings. It provided a mild comfort against the intense heat.

"What time is it now?" Michael asked. Raymond checked his cellphone before replying with a simple '6:30'.

"Wait, you had a cellphone?" Gabrielle exclaimed, "why didn't you call someone?"

"Well, I lost my reception at around three." Raymond said with a frown, "I don't know why. It just stopped working all of a sudden."

That dampened everyone's mood slightly. We began moving again after a few minutes, the roads and stations were blocked off so I don't know why we did; I think we were starting to get desperate. A few minutes passed and a faint *tut tut tut* sound filled the air. We looked up and saw a large helicopter was passing through the city, sending out a broadcast as it moved. "Attention all citizens, due to the gas leak we are requesting that all non-residents sleep in the central park. We will try to clear it as quickly as possible. Please remain calm, and head for the park."

"Liars." I muttered darkly.

"Well, there's no point walking around in circles. Let's just do what they say and head to the park." Michael said, standing up, "the central park is a good one hour walk. We should try to get there before the sun completely sets.

"Don't worry! I know a shortcut!" Raymond piped up, "if we follow my route we should be able to get there in half an hour."

* * *

We decided to go along with Raymond's route, desperate to reach a place where we could feel some-what secure. However, the sun was setting a lot faster than we anticipated and it had almost completely set down the horizon as we were passing by the cemetery. The dead trees looked ominous and added with the bending shadows created with the setting sun it could even be called grim. Our feet made cracking sounds as it made contact with the gravel belown and everytime someone accidentally stomped on the cobblestone path, I would flinch.

"Did your shortcut have to go through the cemetery?" Gabrielle asked, she was carefully manuvering herself to avoid any tombstones and her voice rang with annoyance.

"Unless you prefer walking around it." He retorted.

I was about to tell them to stop arguing but a loud roar cut me off before the words could leave, again. I heard stomping, then the sound of several Murkrows cawing as they quickly fled the trees they were nesting in and flew away. The sound of being trees being ripped from their roots and pushed aside could be heard as loud stomps grew louder. Suddenly a large Rhypherior appeared from the nestle of trees at the far end of the cemetery. It's face was covered over with a mask which had the roman numeral for four etched on top. The pokemon seemed out of control and we all stood there, frozen, as it let out another carnal roar. Pure panic filled my mind and any coherent thoughts I had collapsed, I was drawing a blank on what to do.

"Guys... It's 7:30!" Michael yelled. At first I had no idea what he was talking about, then I remember. The e-mail! Four teenagers will be killed by a large pokemon in a cemetery. Michael, Gabrielle, Raymond, and me; we were going to die right now!

"R-r-r-run!" Raymond stuttered out as we all ran towards the exit, however as we approached the cemetery gates a group of boulders to the side of them began moving. That's when I realized they weren't boulders at all; they were a family of Graveler! Each one had a mask on it's face designed almost exactly like the Rypheriors and they formed a solid barricade preventing us from passing.

"It's getting closer!" Gabrielle screamed. The Rhypherior was now only a few meters way and still stomping towards us.

"Guys, calm down. It's a pokemon like any other. We just have to make it faint, right?" Michael said, pulling out a pokeball. Micheal was right, after gathering my composure I nodded and pulled out my own pokeball as well.

"Okay, you two take care of the Goliath, Gabby and I will take on it's grunts." Raymond said, sending out his Ivysaur. Gabrielle scowled at the nickname but sent out her Snorunt regardless. The dinosaur pawed the ground eager for battle, Gabriell's Snorunt much less so. I tossed my pokeball into the air, letting my Scizor run free while Michael called out his Jellicent.

The Rhypherior's large feet was pawing the ground, and its lightning rod of a horn was directed not at the pokemon Michael and I sent out, but us. Its roar signalled an attack and it ran (or whatever you call quick movement of a two ton pokemon) straight at us. Michael and I ducked over behind a rock while his Jellicent shot a pulse of water at the large ground-type. The attacked seemed only to damage it slightly, the Rypherior stumbled for its footing only for a second before regaining its balance.

"That did not go as expected." Michael muttered.

The Rhypherior glared at Jellicent and his arms seemed to revolve, before turning into vulcans which shot boulders at the jellyfish.

"Scizor, Bullet Punch!" My Scizor sped up, and smashed each boulder quickly before moving up the the giant and punching it several times. Once again, the attack seemed to do little to nothing. The Rypherior was now looking extremely agitated. It swatted my Scizor away before letting lose another barrage of rocks at Michael's Jellicent.

"Use Surf!" Jellicent summoned up a large tidal wave from who knows where and sent it crashing into the boulders and Rhypherior. The large pokemon screamed in pain at the amount of water slipping into the cracks of its stone body. Scizor got back up and attacked with another flurry of punches, one of which struck the mask on its head. The mask cracked, then completely shattered. The left over crumbs of it were washed away by the water, leaving me to wonder what the heck it was.

"High-five!" Michael cheered as he raised his hand. We celebrated our victory with cheers but a loud shriek ended our celebration short. Gabrielle was being cornered by a Graveler and her Snorunt had been tossed to the side.

"HELP!" Gabrielle yelled. The Graveler was slowly closing in on her with a malicous smile streaked arocss its face. She began to back up, but she instantly paled when she felt her heel touch a wall. Michael and I started to run towards her, Raymond was already there battling the Graveler, but his Ivysaur was just about ready to collapse from its previous battles.

"Mr. Mime use Energy Ball!" A blob-like ball of green appeared from nowehere, it struck the Graveler causing its mask to shatter and then faint. Gabrielle let out a sigh of relief before returning her Snorunt into its pokeball. A lady stepped out from where the Energy Ball was shot from; her eyes were a pale color and seemed omniscent of everything that was happening.

"My name is Ami, what are you doing here, children of Arceus?" Her voice was like a wave of water. Strong but relaxing at the same time.

"We were looking for a way to the park." I explained hastily.

"I see, then you can stay here tonight. It will be much safer, no raging pokemon will be able to reach us." She nodded, her Mr. Mime began doing weird movements and a sudden flash at the gates told me that a barrier had been set up. Even with the barriers up, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. I knew we were safe, but what about everyone outside? Rae and Daryl, the children and elderly. What were my parents doing, were they worrying about me?

"Wait, I don't like the idea of staying in a cemetery! Why do we have to stay here anyways?" Suddenly, as if to answer her question all the streetlights nearby blackened, leaving us in the dark; I couldn't see two feet in front of me anymore. I heard a loud screech of a car, followed by a crash and alarm.

"It's 8:00." Michael said in a whisper, "it's the blackout."

"All of the predictions came true." Raymond said in awe.

"No, four teenagers weren't killed." Gabrielle said, her pokedex was open and she pointed at the e-mail.

"Yeah, but only barely..." I muttered, "we could've died."

That ended the conversation. All of us were looking at each other, and the pokedexes we recieved. It was clear that the e-mails weren't a hoax, but why did we get them? I kept thinking about this late at night when everyone else fell asleep, in the dead of night I recieved another e-mail which read:

_Let's survive..._


	3. Any Way Out: The Second Day

I woke up with a loud groan. The night passed by without anything too extraordinary happening, granted I suffered from insomnia and tripped on a branch while trying to find somewhere to use the bathroom, but other than that, nothing went wrong. As soon as I opened my eyes I was greeted with harsh sunlight, even under the protection of a tree. I immediately squinted to prevent the light from blinding me.

After letting my eyes adjust I began to wake up my friends. Gabrielle was a rather easy task, I just clapped in front of her face and she sat up with a rather annoyed look on her face, but I just ignored her glares and laughed. Raymond took a lot more effort, being a naturally deep sleeper. I shook him, clapped my hands and even shouted in his ear, but it was to no avail.

"He's a professional Snorlax." Gabrielle snorted, looking quite frustrated with Raymond's inability to wake-up.

"That's for sure." I replied. After a few more fruitless attempts I took out a pokeball and sent out Maestro, my Kricketot. I pointed at Raymond's sleeping figure and he got the message immediately. Maestro waddled over to Raymonds ear before creating a loud, high-pitched ringing sound which caused all the pokemon nearby to flee. Raymond literally jumped up and took a fighting stance, until he realized we weren't being attacked.

"Not funny." Raymond said with a scowl. He looked extremely irritated and a bit worse for wear, in fact so did the rest of us. Our campout in the cemetery wasn't exactly a peaceful one, the hoots of pokemon and other eerie noises seemed to have stopped all of us from sleeping comfortably, not to mention the floor was not the best bed.

"Hey, where's Michael?" Gabrielle asked.

"I'm right here!" The voice came from above, and looking up I saw Michael tinkering woth his pokedex on a branch above.

"What are you doing up there?" Raymond asked. Michael leapt down from the branch and walked up to us before displaying his pokedex.

"Well, our pokedex have an e-mail function. So, I tried to e-mail my parents, but it said that it couldn't find the server that I specified. That's why I decided to try it at a higher level, but it still didn't send through." Michael explained dejectedly.

"Wait, then how did we get that e-mail from yesterday?" I wondered out loud.

"Well, I think that the e-mails come from automated server inside the pokedex. It calculates a complicated algorithm to predict the day's events, it must process every possible action in order to come up with its prediction. Also, the slightest error in such a complex algorithm could cause the whole thing to mess up. Like yesterday, when we defeated the Rhypherior we were able to get rid of the cause of our death." Michael explained, leaving my head spinning.

"Ah, slow down whiz-kid! Speak English for the rest of us non-eggheads!" Gabrielle frowned.

"Short and simple, the e-mails come the pokedex itself." Michael frowned. I opened my mouth to make a comment about how the heck the pokedex could predict our actions but was interrupted by the sound of a message coming through. Sure enough, there was a new e-mail in my inbox.

_Good Morning! Here is today's news!_

_Blackouts will continue all through out the day inside Castelia and other surrounding areas._

_Over the course of the day there will be increasing injuries on humans caused by pokemon._

_At 5:00 p.m several captured pokemon will be forcibly ejected from their pokeballs then rage out of control._

_Have a nice day!_

"Hm, this one's a bit different from the others." Michael mused, curious as to what he was talking about I lifted my head from the pokedex to look at him and asked, "what do you mean?"

"Well, yesterday we got specific time-stamps, today we got mostly a general overview." Michael explained to me as I drunk in every word, "but if it's important or not, I'm not sure."

"Pokemon being forcibly ejected." Gabrielle muttered her voice pitch high, "we have to get out before then."

"Let's see if we can get out." Raymond said with a shrug, he didn't seem to find the e-mail worrying at all. Where did he get all his courage from?

"Don't you remember? Everythings blockaded until the government gives us the green light to leave." Gabrielle said adding a long sigh at the end.

"Well, it's better than sitting here like Psyduck and waiting for the lockdown to end. Besides, we might be able to find a secret passage way or something." Raymond countered back. I had to admit, I did not feel like doing nothing for who knows how long, so I nodded in agreement. Gabrielle gave up and we all gathered up our belongings before we left the cemetery.

After exiting through the cemetery gate we began walking back towards te subway, as we walked I noticed that the streets looked torn apart and that several cars had been crashed and damaged.

"Do you think the blackout caused all this?" I asked.

"No, cars have their own headlights. Even if the power went out the drivers should still be able to see," Michael replied. He had a look of worry on his face which I didn't like at all, "I think a rampaging pokemon did it all."

"No way." Gabreille said in shock, "pokemon are our friends, they would never do something like this."

"What about the Rhypherior last night? That thing went out of control and tried to kill us!" Raymond argued back. That left Gabrielle speechless and as we continued walking down the street we saw more trails of destruction left by rampaging pokemon. Talon marks in the aphsalt, holes in buildings, burned trees, and crashed cars were seen on every block and the thought that pokemon caused all this scared me. Were they our allies or monsters waiting to be unleashed?

When we reached the closest subway station there was still a barricade. People were angrily protesting about how they had jobs and families waiting but they were just told to stay calm and remain inside Castelia until it is deemed safe to leave.

"Please, my son is having an operation soon! I need to be with him!" I man pleaded.

"I'm sorry but we're under direct orders not to let anyone through. So please, don't make this more difficult than it needs to be." A man on the barricade line replied. A wave of pity swept over me, the man gave up and stepped away from the line, then disappeared into the crowd of people. I spotted a girl with long brown-hair and a pink dress protesting with them, the first thing that crossed my mind was cos-player and I laughed at the thought. Despite the protests, the men behind the barricade refused to let us out, then, for the second time, the crowd thinned out until it was just us and a few other stubborn protesters.

"Well, conventional exits are a bust," Michael grumbled, "this isn't fair... I'm about to keel over."

"What's the matter, Michael?" Raymond asked. Now that Raymond mentioned it, Michael did look a bit clammy and distressed. My first instinct told me he was sick, but considering his perfect attendance record I ruled out that possibility.

"I'm going through an internet withdrawal, I haven't been on for a whole twenty-four hours!" I burst out laughing, but Gabrielle didn't find the situation as I did because she stomped on Michael's foot and called him a tech junkie.

"Oh, how marvelous!" A voice cried out. I jumped up, into the air in surprise and turned around after regaining my composure. The voice came from a man with a camera around his neck and wire-framed glasses. He quickly began taking pictures of Gabrielle, ignoring her questions of "who, what, when, where, how?"

"What's your name? Do you want to be a model?" The man asked, still taking pictures. Gabrielle face turned a light-shade of pink before she ran behind the nearest person, which happened to be Michael.

"And, who are you?" Raymond asked in an annoyed voice. The man stopped taking pictures, looking angry at Raymond for interrupting him. He straightened his coat and glasses and flashed a ridiculous looking pose.

"I'm Klavier! The one and only!" He screamed out. It drew the attention of by-standers who instantly began whispering about him. Just who was this nut-job?

"Who?" Raymond asked again.

"You boorish churl! You don't know who I am?" The man asked, Raymond held the same annoyed face as he shook his head, "where do you live? Under a rock?"

"No way! Are you really Klavier!" Gabrielle exclaimed, suddenly dashing out from behind Michael and running towards the man.

"Of course, and you, my dear are the epitome of grace and elegance. What may I call you?" Klavier said, taking Gabrielle's hand and putting a small kiss on it. Raymond groaned out loud at the sight and whispered "creeper."

"Gabrielle." She answered, her voice in a state of reverie.

"How do you know this doofus?" Raymond asked, he seemed like he was about to snap after being ignored two times.

"I know him too. Klavier is a renowned artist in almost every field. Photography, painting, sculpting, you name it." Michael piped up. His description suddenly recalled a memory of someone giving a presentation on him in art class.

"Oh, I remember now!"

"See! Any normal person could recognize me." Klavier smirked. I sighed, also remembering that the person who presented put a great amount of emphasis on Klavier's rather large ego.

"In any case, what do we do now? It really looks like we're stuck here." I said, trying to steer the topic away from Klavier before Raymond got arrested for assaulting a celebrity.

"Hm? Oh, you're looking for an exit are you? I have some information that might intrigue you." Klavier said, flashing a smile that nearly blinded my right eye. Everyone perked in and moved closer, I, to make sure I was hearing him right, "uh-uh-uh. Information doesn't come free!"

"What do you want?" Michael asked suspiciously.

"I'm looking for this famous cam-girl, her name is Dahlia and I just have to write an article on her!" Klavier explained, showing us a picture. She was wearing a white dress and had brown, butterfly braided hair. I didn't know why, but something about the girl rang familiar to me.

"Oh, Dahlia, I hear she cos-plays quite for her jobs." Raymond mused, taking a good look at the picture.

"Cos-play? Well, I did see this one girl..." I said under my breath, but Klavier seemed to catch me and grabbed me by my shirt desperately. His wild eyes reminded of me of a wild animal, and his glare didn't help either.

"Where?" He all but shouted.

"I think I saw her heading for the art museum." I replied, slightly panicked at Klavier's sudden change of demeanor.

"Now, tell us how we can get out of here!" My friends shouted unanimously.

"Alright, alright. Well, there's an urban legend about a secret tunnel. The building across from the Gym used to be a hideout for Team Plasma, and they used it in order to transfer member in and out of Castelia without drawing too much attention." Klavier explained, "now if you excuse me, I have to get the scoop of the century!"

He quickly said his farewells before running in the direction of the art museum.

"That was... really weird." Michael said, deadpanning. I nodded my head in agreement, that being one of the strangest experiences in my life.

"Okay, how about we head for the exit?" Gabrielle chirped happily.

* * *

Our walk to the building was uneventful, there were little to no people on the streets because most of them were gathered up in the park. It was almost deathly silent as we continued, and I was absentmindedly walking when Michael tapped my shoulder.

"Hm, what is it?" I asked, regaining some of my senses. Michael just pointed at a large crowd of people in front of me; when did they get there? At very strangely-dressed man was standing on what seemed to be a make-shift stage, his loud voice was able to carry through to the back of the crowd where we stood.

"Long ago, Arceus, the creator of the world almost destroyed humanity. He was angered because we had taken four of his plates, and because of that civilization was almost wiped out. However, now we have the technology to be self-sufficient!" The man said. As he continued speaking several other people in similar attire walked around, trying to convince people to join their cause. As my eyes followed the members of this organization, I noticed Ami. When her head turned to look at my direction, I hastily shifted my eyes elsewhere and hoped she hadn't seen me.

"Arceus has sent this ordeal upon us; he wants us to remain trapped in his chains for all of time! If we band together, we will be able to overcome this ordeal and prove the worth of mankind!" As I looked around, several people were shaking their heads, and others were nodding.

I listened to his speech intently, trying to absorb every word he said. A world free from Arceus' ordeals? Does Arceus even exist? The only time I had ever heard about Arceus was in my textbook, no pictures, just an extremely long story and a brief description of its appearance.

"How foolish..." A woman standing next to me muttered.

"Don't like his speech?" I asked. My friends turned to see who I was talking to, the woman was dressed in a purple jacket and pink shirt. She looked slightly aged, but still young at the same time.

"He believes that it is Arceus' fault for this ordeal. However, was it not us who wronged first? For every crime there is a punishment." The woman explained. Her words confused me, it's our own fault that we are in this cordon? Aren't we victims?

"What are you talking about?" Raymond asked, his face told me he did not understand a word the woman just said.

"Nothing, you're just kids." The woman said, and she left without another word.

"There sure are a bunch of weirdos here." Gabrielle said, I nodded in agreement. After listening for a few more minutes. When the man finished his monologue, his followers packed the stage away and they left. However, several people remained, whispering to each other and taking up the street.

"C'mon guys, we have to hurry! It's already one!" Gabrielle exclaimed. I nodded and we slowly pushed our way through the crowd. People scowled at us when we bumped into them, several of them saying "kids these days have no respect". When we broke free of the crowd, I noticed many heated glares being shot in our direction and I quickly motioned for everyone to run.

It was a good half-hour before we finally reached our destination. The building looked like any other building in Castelia, tall and gray with several windows on each floor and I began to doubt if this building could actually be our savior.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Michael said nervously as he took the first step forward. I followed in after him (Maestro beside me) with Gabrielle behind me and Raymond trailing last. The interior looked just as dull as the exterior, there were beige colored tiles, and a few chairs situated in front of a television, nothing seemed out of place. The only thing that stood out was a single elevator at the far end of the room.

"Well, going down anyone?" I said jokingly, but no one responded. We spent a few minutes inspecting the room we were in, the television wasn't functional, there was nothing behind the front desk, the chairs were uncomfortable and the painting didn't have anything behind it.

"I guess that's the last option." Raymond said as he approached the elevator and slowly pressed the button. However, it didn't light up and no "ding" from the elevator sounded.

"The power's out, doofus," Gabrielle sighed, "of course the elevator wouldn't be working."

"Well, excuse me for trying."

"Guys, stop bickering. Honesty, sometimes you two are like an old married couple." Michael said with a sigh, both turned their and quickly shouted out, "we do not!"

While Gabrielle and Raymond were having their spat with Michael as the mediator, I noticed Maestro wasn't by my side.

"Hey, has anyone seen Maestro?" I asked out-loud. Raymond and Gabrielle both stopped and looked at me with confused faces while Michael gave a small shrug. Fear and panic rose up in me as I tried to replay entering the building. I knew he had had entered with me, but after that I couldn't remember anything else. I was beginning to lose my composure when a quiet chirp caught my attention.

Everyone remained deathly silent as I followed the chirps, reaching an area at the corner of the room. I bent over and realized that the chirping was coming from under the tiles. My eyes scanned around and noticed that a single tile was a bit out of place.

"Hey, I think I might have found our exit!" I said loudly. Everyone gathered around me as I lifted up the tile revealing a hole with a set of ladders which stretched down into the dark abyss. As I tried to find the bottom of the abyss, I heard more chimes and chirps.

"Well, who wants to go first?" Raymond asked, his voice a bit shaky from excitement, or was it fear? I silently volunteered and began my descent down the ladder. After a few steps it became difficult to see, and I couldn't tell how far I've gone. Occasionally my friends above would ask if I was okay and I would reply with a simple yes.

It felt like forever and a half had passed before my foot reached the ground. As soon as it did I called out , "Maestro!"

My pokemon literally leapt into my arms, giving of happy chimes, "I missed you too, buddy."

"Hey, Ulrich, did you find him?" Raymond's voice called out.

"Yeah, come on down!" I yelled back. After a few minutes, all of us were reunited at the bottom of the ladder. Michael sent out his Starmie, Raito. Its bio-luminescent core gave us some vision. We were in a very wide corridor, it was completely empty except for the few Rattata scurrying about.

"Hmm, I guess the urban legend was true." Michael mused, he didn't seem to be disturbed by the situation at all.

"Guys, let's get going." Gabrielle sighed. We all silently trudged forward through the corridor. The sound of dripping water and chattering Rattata did everything but calm my nerves, and I constantly looked over my shoulders to make sure no one was creeping up on us.

I opened my mouth to complain about how long we walked, but a click caught my attention and I tensed up immediately.

"Freeze!" A loud, male voice boomed. A figure appeared from the darkness carrying a large gun, and he pointed it straight at us. As he moved I saw a slight glimmer on his chest caused my reflecting of the glow Michael's Starmie gave off, "what are you doing here? Answer me!"

"Crap, run!" Michael shouted as he signaled for Raito to set up a Protect. The man began firing, however, the bullets ricocheted off the protective barrier. Although the man's face was covered in darkness, I could feel his eyes burn steely glares into me as he stopped firing and watched us run away, Raito tailing behind.

We kept running through the dark corridor. Even though I knew we had just escaped death, I couldn't help but wonder who that man was. Why he was there and how did he know about this place.

"I think we're back at the entrance." Raymond said, pointing out the ladder to the side. He began climbing and we all followed up. Once he reached the top, he pushed up the tile and we climbed out into the light.

* * *

The sun was at it's highest point when we exited the building. Raymond checked his phone and informed us that it was almost three.

I let out a loud sigh as I looked around. After our escape, we all headed for the park where we deemed it would be safe, there were several people sitting idly, waiting for the lock down to end. I returned my gaze to the floor, but picked it up again when two feet stepped in front of me. A tall male in a blue button-up shirt and yellow tie was standing in front of me.

"Hi, may I ask you kids a few questions?" My first instinct was to say now, but the ID on his shirt and pin on his cap told me he was someone of certain authority. Despite the fact he looked the same age as me, I nodded.

"What were you doing underground?" The four of us exchanged a few glances before Michael spoke up.

"Why do we have to answer your question?"

"My name is Detective Theo Sereid. I saw you kids enter then leave the tunnel, and I'd like a few answers for the article I'm going to write once I get out of this codon." He replied smoothly.

"Well, we were informed that it lead to somewhere outside." I said.

"That is true, but why are you still here then?"

"There was someone there, he didn't want to let us through." Gabrielle quipped.

"Hm, then this subject is pointless. What's been the most difficult thing about this lock down for you?"

"The lack of electricity, I haven't been online for so long." Michael muttered, Gabrielle promptly elbowed him in the ribs.

"I see, okay. I don't want to take up anymore of your time so I'll ask one more question," Theo said, writing down Michael's response in a small blue notebook, "when do you think this lock down will end?"

"Never?" I replied with a shrug. I instantly recieved a glare from Gabrielle and a worried look from Raymond. I blushed slightly before turning my gaze away sheepishly to look at a patch of flowers.

"Wow, that's dark." Theo said with a semi-playful smile. "Well, thanks for everything. No one else would give me the time of day."

He turned his back to us and left, and after a few minutes I couldn't see him anymore. I looked around and everyone held the same puzzled face as I did. We sat in silence, waiting for what I considered Armageddon. A light 'tut tut tut' sound made me perk up and look at the sky. A few helicopters carrying wooden crates descended. However, as soon as they dropped off the crates, the helicopters returned to the skies and left.

Government officers arrived in cars soon after, they pried oped the boxes and preserved rations came tumbling out. People rushed to the crates, despite the orders to form straight and steady lines.

"Are you guys hungry?" Raymond asked, as he stood up.

"Kind of." Gabrielle replied quietly. Michael and I stood up as well and the three of us ran towards the crates. When we arrived, several people were still grabbing for food. I gulped before pushing myself into the crowd, bumping into several bodies and arms in my quest for lunch. Tripping over a foot, I fell face-first to the floor. Luckily, there was a packaged ration near the ground I landed on, so I quickly grabbed it and escaped the crowd.

"Phew, that was torture." I muttered to myself as I brushed dirt and dust off the sleeves of my shirt.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know?" A voice said to me. I flinched before recognizing the voice. I turned around slowly, and gave a meek smile to the woman who criticized the man's speech earlier in the afternoon.

She was slowly chewing on a piece of bread while she was staring at me.

"Hello." I said quietly.

"Speak up, I can't hear you!" She yelled. I jumped up at the sudden tone of voice, "men these days. Have no backbone what-so-ever."

"Is there something you wanted from me?" I asked politely, while still raising my voice higher.

"Yes, don't you think it's outrageous how the government is doing nothing to help us?" She asked me with a heated gaze. I gulped and wished I was a different person.

"Well, they did send us the crates of rations." I answered, she gave a haughty scoff at my answer. I tried to distance myself from her as people began to give us weird looks.

"These rations? They're like throwing raw meat in a cage filled with starving lions." The woman said between laughs. My mind began to relate her to the Cheshire Cat, and her outfit didn't help with that regard either. However, I shook off the thought as she continued to speak.

"Unova is supposed to be a democracy," she shouted, "but the government is keeping us trapped here like we carry the plague. I, Marilyn Iccasus, will not stand for this tyranny!"

Several people were starting to stare now and I distanced myself a little further from her. "Well, my friends are waiting for me, bye!"

I quickly ran away as she continued her rant, not even noticing my exit. When I returned to my friends, they had already started eating without me.

"Hey, mwhath thook so long?" Raymond asked, between chews.

"Well, I got caught up in a bit of madness." I replied, as I sat down and opened the plastic wrapping around the sandwich. Even though it was plain peanut butter it tasted like ambrosia to my starving stomach. I quickly finished the sandwich in under five minutes.

"Hey, how about we take a walk in the forest?" Michael suggested. Castelia's central park was extremely large, it held several large nestles of trees.

"Alright." I agreed.

"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" Gabrielle said, "remember, we have to get out by five!"

My mood sank at her words. I had completely forgotten about the e-mail. Gabrielle stared at us, but we stayed quiet. After running into the man underground, all hopes of escaping had been dashed for me.

"... Okay, you guys can go..." Gabrielle muttered looking downcast. I looked at her as if she had three heads and she seemed to get annoyed with me for she raised her voice, "I'll be fine! Go! Just make sure you're back before five!"

"But Gabby-"

"I said go! And don't call me Gabby!" She shouted, punching Raymond roughly on the arm.

"Guys, let's run!" Raymond said, quickly running away. Michael quickly followed after him, but I lingered a bit. Even though Gabrielle gave me another look that said 'go', I grabbed her arm and dragged her along.

"Hey, let me go!"

* * *

Dried out leaves crunched under our feet as we navigated our way through the forest. I didn't know why I decided to walk through the forest, I just knew I didn't want to be helpless sitting at the park, waiting. Raymond was blazing the trail while Michael continued tinkering with the pokedex, Gabrielle was just trying to avoid the various bug-pokemon which inhabited the forest.

"Do you even know where you're going?" I asked.

"Yeah, are we lost?" Gabrielle added.

"Of course not, I know exactly where we are." Raymond muttered.

"Yeah, where, Sherlock?"

"We're right here on this very spot!" Raymond replied.

"... So we are lost." Michael said, looking up from his pokedex. Raymond shushed him and continued walking. It was a good few minutes before I piped up again.

"Shouldn't we head back to the-"

"Ahhh!" A loud scream cut me off. A girl came crashing into Michael, causing both of them to fall to the floor. Michael got up, shaking his head in pain and I was about to question her about why she was crashing into people but I noticed she had fainted.

I heard a snarl and gasped when I saw that a pack of masked Mightyena had surrounded us.

"Not this again!" Gabrielle whined. The Mightyena slowly circled us, drawing closer with each revolution. As I stared at them, I noticed their masks were marked with the roman numeral for twelve.

"I do not plan on being dog meat." Raymond said, sending out his Tropius, Verdes. I was reaching for my Scizor's pokeball when Maestro popped out of his pokeball.

"Maestro! Do you want to be lunch?" I asked loudly. he just chirped happily and waddled up next to Verdes, making him look even smaller by comparison.

"Alright, Verdes, use Magical Leaf!" The large dinosaur, bat its wings once to send a flurry of multi-color leaves towards it's opposition. However, the wolves were too fast and evaded the attack. To my surprise, after the leaves flew past the wolves they made a u-turn and struck a the pokemon in the back.

"Alright, Maestro use Uproar!" He let out a lour screech, which had some of the dogs whimpering from the ear-pain. Maestro was silenced when one of the larger dogs who I assumed was the alpha-male grabbed Maestro with his jaw.

"Gah, use Struggle Bug!" Maestro glowed slightly before squirming and letting out a screech. The Mightyena release him quickly and after Maestro dropped to the floor, Raymond's Verdes was able to hit the pokemon with a well-aimed Air Slash. Hitting the alpha-male made all the other pack members to dash towards Verdes and latch on to it with Bite attacks. Raymond's Tropius groaned in pain as it shook its body, trying to get the pokemon off.

"Artemis, use Water Pulse!" I turned and saw Gabrielle ordering her Dewgong to attack. It shot spheres of water which knocked the Mightyena off Verdes and left them fainted on the floor. Just like last time, as soon as the pokemon fainted the masks they wore shattered.

"... Darkrai will rise." A voice rasped. I stiffened up as I shifted my eyes towards the right where the voice came from, but there was no one there.

"Ughhh..." The girl groaned as she sat up, rubbing her head.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked, extending his hand to help her up. She ignored the gesture and picked herself up, dusting off her outfit. She wore a pink dress and glasses, and she had blue hair tied in a butterfly braid. She looked at us strangely and we stared back.

"Why are you guys staring at me?" She asked.

"Well, you're wearing a pink dress and you have blue-hair." Raymond pointed out.

"It's called cosplaying, duh..." She replied with a smile, "oh, and thanks for saving me! I guess heroes do exist!" Her cheery voice made me a little sick, and she was so perky I could feel myself being drained just by talking to her.

She looked a little familiar and Gabrielle obviously thought so as well because she raised an eyebrow and asked, "what's your name?

"Dahlia."

I suddenly remembered the photo we were shown by Klavier hours ago. Although her hair was a different color, it was still in the same style.

"Dahlia? THE Dahlia?" Raymond all but shouted. She nodded with another smile.

"Well, erm, someone was looking for you..." I said

"Do you mean that pervert? He's the reason I'm in the woods right now!" She said with aggravation and annoyance showing in her voice. "If he wasn't stalking me, I wouldn't have had to run in here!"

None of us spoke as she continued to talk about how Klavier followed her around for an hour while taking pictures.

"Well, we have to go now." I said, after she talked for about five-minutes.

"Oh, can I come with you guys? Please..." She begged, giving us a pout that would beat a puppy's.

"Sure!" Michael answered, and I slapped him in my mind.

* * *

We were able to find our way out of the forest after getting lost a few times. The others headed for the benches while I head for the water fountain to get a drink.

That was when the large clock tower rang five. I picked my head up from the flowing spout of water immediately as I waited for the gongs to pass. One, two, three, four, at the fifth gong several pokemon burst out from their confinements and I tightened up and closed my eyes as I waited for my pokemon to escape, however, the stayed inside. I was a little confused, but probably not as confused as the released pokemon who were looking up at their trainers with faces of distress.

I started to head back to my friends when a sudden high-pitch sound resonated through the air. I clenched my eyes shut and covered my ears instinctively but the pokemon had a different response. I opened one eyelid and say that the pokemon's faces were slowly being covered by a mask. The masks were almost exactly the same as the one on the Mightyena and Rhypherior!

As the sound died out, the pokemon escaped their stupor and turned on their trainers with feral growls. I ran back to my friends as the pokemon began attacking, jets of water, fire, electricity, rocks, and more flew through the air as I ran.

People who weren't lucky enough to escape fell prey to the attacks of pokemon.

"Ulrich, over here!" I turned my head to see Raymond behind a group of government officers. I ran towards him as the officers stormed forward. The pokemon seemed frightened by their presence, and began hiding within the safety of the park's forest.

"Attention citizens, we have set up several shelters at schools and libraries. Please head their for safety!" An officer yelled as they continued to drive the masked pokemon further into the park.

We were slowly being lead to several of the make-shift shelters. I tried to stay as close to Michael, Raymond, Dahlia and Gabrielle as possible. Every few minutes I would look up from the floor to check on them. However, no one spoke a word until late at night, long after we had entered our shelter.

The four of us decided to sleep in a corner of the library, away from everyone else. After Gabrielle, Dahlia and Raymond fell asleep Michael whispered to me, "the world's going mad..."

I nodded.


	4. Crumbling Reason: The Third Day

I was running. The only sound I heard were my footsteps. The path in front of me was unclear, for everything was shrouded in fog. I turned left, then right, I didn't know where I was going. However, I felt that there was something to be found at the end of it all.

"You are alone." A voice rasped. I turned my head, but there was no one where the voice originated from. I began panicking and ran in the opposite direction of the voice, but it followed me. "Life has no meaning."

Another turn. I couldn't walk any further, I had reached a dead end. I turned to face the voice and backed up against the wall. The fog around me grew thicker and thicker until I couldn't see anything at all.

"You are nothing."

"No, no, no!" I shouted as me knees gave out on me and I sank to the floor. I began to lose consciousness, but a voice was calling me from somewhere.

"Ulrich!" The voice shouted. I tried to find it, but I was getting sleepy and I couldn't move.

"Ulrich!" This time a hand grabbed my arm and shook me.

* * *

"Ulrich, wake up!" Raymond shouted at me as my eyes snapped open.

As I sat up, I noticed my body was covered in cold sweat and that the rest of my friends were staring at me with concerned looks on their faces.

The library seemed a lot brighter than it did last night, not that I took a good look at it last night. Light entered through the windows and the shelves filled with books comforted me a bit. As I looked around, I noticed several of the refugees who had slept in the same shelter as us had already left (including Dahlia), the few that remained were still sleeping.

"Ulrich, are you okay?" Raymond asked me, his voice full of worry. I returned my attention to him and saw that his face looked a bit grimmer than the others.

"Hm, oh yeah, I'm fine," I said reassuringly to him, "thanks, Raymond."

The look of worry passed, and his face returned to its usual carefree smile. I stood up and stretched out a bit before greeting the rest of my friends with a tired "good morning".

"So, what are we going to do now?" Michael asked. He had his pokedex out and was staring at it, most likely waiting for the e-mail that would predict today's events. I responded with a simple shrug and took out my pokedex as well. A few minutes passed and a familiar alarm sound signaled that an e-mail had arrived.

"We're getting awfully reliant on these." Michael mused as I opened up the e-mail. as I stared at it, I noticed that the text was looking more blurred and unclear than the last e-mail.

_H3llo! Here i$ today's 4ewsss!_

_Riots and protest will breakout within the city against captivity of civilians._

___At 2:00 p.m, 50 people will be killed by raging pokemon near the Castelia's City Bar. Victims include, Daryl Iros and Dahlia Aigise. There will be several other pokemon related injuries and deaths throughout the day._

_At 5:30 p.m, pokemon will attack central park but because of the Kamiks no one will be harmed._

"What is up with the text?" Raymond asked out loud. I just shrugged and looked at Micheal for the answers he usually provided.

"Well, I suppose because of what we've done the last two days, a large error has formed within the algorithm because of the inability to calculate the scheduled events, thus, causing a few bugs." He explained, "more importantly, the last prediction, Daryl and Dahlia are going to die..."

"That's not entirely true." Gabrielle countered, she looked fiercely determined and her eyes burned with an emotion I had never seen from her before, "we changed the predictions before, and we're going to do it again!"

"Woah, Gabby. What happened to getting out of here?" Raymond asked, he had a big grin on his face and looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh. Gabrielle punched him hard in the arm and Raymond let out a shout at the impact. I began laughing and Micheal joined in as we watched Raymond try to fend off Gabrielle.

"Hey, hey, maybe next time we're attacked by pokemon you should just use your fists, Gabby." Raymond quipped while hiding behind a bookshelf.

"You really think so?" She smiled before putting her hands down. Raymond stepped out of from his hiding spot and let out a deep sigh of relief.

We gathered up our belongings in a matter of minutes and left the library. Several of the stores that we walked by had broken windows and I assumed that they had been looted, because most, if not all of the shelves and refrigerators had been emptied. Once again, crates of rations had been lowered into the city, but I saw domr elderly and young children with no food in their hands.

Cries and moans surrounded us as we continued walking and I could feel myself getting sick.

"How long is this going to last?" I asked myself. No one answered. Once again we found ourselves in front of the barricaded train stations. Government officers were distributing the same message as yesterday, except a little differently.

"Everyone, there is a dangerous gas leak in the subway line. It is harmful to people and pokemon alike so please remain calm and wait until it is clear. We have determined that the gas is coming from a group of Koffing and Weezing and the gas is highly flammable, so please stay away until it is cleared."

"Why do we keep coming back here if all we get is that stupid message?" Raymond said to no one in particular.

"Maybe because deep down you wish that the lockdown is just a nightmare and it will end?" A voice answered from behind me. The four of us jumped up at the voice and turned around. There were three familiar faces staring back at me. Theo, Marilyn, and Klavier greeted us with smiles, despite the fact they almost scared us to death.

"Oh, it's just you three... Wait, do you guys know each other?" I questioned, sending the trio a suspicious glare.

"Well, we met each other yesterday if that's what you're asking." Theo replied with a small chuckle. The three of them re-introduced themselves formally and we did the same.

"So, what are you three doing all bunched together?" Gabrielle inquired.

Klavier struck out a flashy and dramatic pose and cried out, "we're searching for what Man has desired to grasp in his hands for so long. The thing that is perpetually hidden by fog and forever locked away in a tower!"

At the mention of fog, I felt a chill crawl up my spine and I shivered as I recalled the nightmare I recently had, luckily, no one seemed to have noticed my bodily reaction.

"You lost me" Raymond said in a deadpanned voice accompanied by a face-palm. I stifled a laugh and was tempted to mimic his action.

"What he means is that the three of us are searching for the real reason behind the lock-down." Marilyn translated. I waited for a further explanation but it didn't come and all of us just stared at each other for a few minutes.

"I see... any why are you telling us this?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Well, I have more questions that I wanted to ask you." Theo replied, taking out a familiar notebook and pen, his eyes glimmered with a sort of childish excitement as he began asking his questions. "Do you ever wonder why people begin to panic?"

"It's because they jump to conclusions, right?" Michael answer hesitantly, he was rubbing his left arm continuously and avoiding Theo's eyes as he replied. The capped male didn't seem to notice this and simply nodded.

"That's right, people immediate assume the worst-case scenario is going to happen." Marilyn quipped, she looked quite impressed by Michael's answer and held a small grin on her face as she asked a second question. "Do you know why people panic when they assume the worst-case scenario?"

"It's because they don't have information..." Michael muttered.

"I'm surprised you know that! Panic occurs when people don't have enough information and assume the worst-case scenario!" Klavier applauded, he let out a loud laugh of amusement which attracted a few eyes from the surrounding people but he seemed to enjoy it.

"Right now, the panic is being controlled by the information the government is giving out, even if it's inccorect. Such as 'there's poisonous gas in the subway lines' and today they updated it to 'the gas is made from Weezing and his highly flammable'. These updates are important, because they make people believe that there's an ongoing investigation into the problem. That's why they won't assume the worst, well at least for now." Theo explained, as he quickly jotted down what was being said.

"But, the governemnt's lying to us! That's not right!" Gabrielle shouted, I saw her point. I didn't like the fact that we were being lied to about something that could effect our lives.

"Yes, life doesn't work like it does in a disaster movie. Most sensible people will doubt the government's announcements, but as you know the blackout has caused a complete freeze on communications outside the lockdown. So, they'll hold onto these doubts while awaiting help all the same." Marilyn sighed.

The seven of us stared at each other, passing glances back and forth. If what they said was true, there's no way we would get out of the lockdown through any conventional methods. Would we have to resort to force?

"Hey, do you three know what the Kamiks are?" I perked up and saw that is was Raymond who asked the question.

"Hm, you don't? They're the group that gave that large speech before; they've been going around providing aid to some of the less fortunate." Theo said. Gabrielle, Raymond, Michael, and I exchanged glances. Theo gave us a strange look, "why do you ask?"

"Oh, er, no reason." Theo didn't pry further. We parted ways soon after, even though we had no set destination. I suggested going back down into the tunnel we discovered yesterday, but Gabrielle shook her head fiercely and refused completely, so we wandered aimlessly for a while.

There was destruction in places that weren't heavily crowded, parks which were the main shelters had several groups of people bunched together. Some looked frightened, those that weren't had blissfully ignorant smiles and grins on their faces, and I felt a small twinge of envy towards them.

Our short trek around the city went unfounded, we were unable to spot Daryl or Dahlia and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach as we sat down for a short break. Gabrielle and Micheal had went off to find a store which still had food, leaving me and Raymond alone. The two of us sat down in the shade of a tree, the leaves were gently falling, some browned because of the intense summer heat.

"It's been two days since the lockdown has started, are you worried?" I asked quietly, Raymond gave me a strange look before flashing one of his trademark grins.

"Of course not, even if the government isn't going to let us through, the four of us will get through this no matter what." He replied confidently.

"Man, do you think we'll be able to save Daryl, Dahlia and those other fifty people? We're the only ones who know what's going to happen and that's a big burden to carry on the shoulders of four people." I muttered to myself dejectedly. The thought of someone dying when I could have done something scared me, although I didn't know why. I looked at Raymond for an answer, even though he didn't hear me. He just sent me another one of his goofy grins and I felt my lips curve up as a feeling of reassurance surged through me. Raymond was always optimistic and never backed down, I didn't know why I even bothered asking in the first place.

"We're back!" A voice called, I picked my head up and say Michael and Gabrielle waving to us in the distance. They quickly jogged over before dropping a sandwich on each of our laps.

"You wouldn't believe how hard was it for us to find these." Gabrielle complained as she sat down beside me and Raymond beside her.

"Yeah, almost every single convenience store we came across was ransacked." Michael added as he nibbled on bread slowly. The sandwich was extremely stale but I remembered the phrase 'beggars can't be choosers' and ate it anyways.

After our meal I checked my phone which told me that it was almost one o'clock. Daryl and Dahlia were scheduled to die in about an hour and my jaw clenched at the thought.

"Well, well, well, look what the Delcatty dragged in." A voice sang in an annoyingly cheery tune I thought people only used on TV. A man wearing a while suit and pants with a green scarf on greeted me. The first thing I noticed was the green scarf, how could he wear that in such sweltering heat?

"We seem to be meeting lots of weirdos here." Gabrielle whispered in my ear, I stifled a laugh and nodded in agreement but the man seemed to notice it.

"Whispering about others who are in front of you isn't nice, Gabrielle." The man quipped, Gabrielle's face seemed to redden a little but then quickly paled as she noticed something was off.

"H-H-How do you know my name?" She stuttered.

"I know all your names, Raymond, Gabrielle, Michael, Ulrich." The man laughed while applauding. His teeth shone brightly in the sun as he laughed and he had to wipe a tear from his eye after he finished his applause.

"Well what do you want from us you creeper?" Raymond asked, narrowing his eyes and lowering his hands to where his pokeballs were.

"I'm just here to give you all a little warning." The man shrugged, "have any of you ever heard of the pokemon Darkrai?"

Darkrai, it was the name a voice rasped after our bout with the Mightyena yesterday. I tried to recall the lessons on legendary pokemon I took in the months before summer. A pure dark type pokemon that was rumored to send any victim of it's Dark Void attack into an endless nightmare. The victim could only be awakened by the Lunar Wing which is said to be dropped by Darkrai's nemesis, Cresselia.

"Yeah, he's a legendary pokemon. As in, he's a legend and doesn't exist." Michael answered simply, "

"Oh, but he does exist my dear Michael, he's just... locked away at the moment, but his followers are planning to set him free." The man said, a wicked smile curving on his face. The four of us gave him looks of disbelief but he just chuckled. "I believe he'll be set free tomorrow, and when he does I'm sure he'll be sending everyone here into eternal darkness."

"Well, we won't I down without a fight!" Raymond shouted.

"The thing about Darkrai is, it'll be near impossible to defeat him, without the presence of-"

"The Lunar Wing." I said, completing his sentence. The man gave a look of surprise but it swiftly changed into one of amusement.

"That is absolutely right, my dear Ulrich." the man laughed. "Well, I'm going to enjoy seeing how you four fair against him."

A sudden breeze blew by and in a blink of the eye the man was gone. I rubbed my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't just seeing thins, but no, a man had just disappeared right before our eyes.

"Who was that?" Michael muttered. The three of us shrugged in response, the man, he seemed familiar but I couldn't recall anything about him, "Darkrai... we were told that all the legends disappeared, weren't we?"

"Yeah, apparently we were misinformed." Raymond grumbled with clenched teeth. He was upset, I knew because his eyes were narrowed in a familiar way and his hands were balled into fists.

"Hey guys, it's half-past one, we should get going." I reminded them.

* * *

It was a race against the clock, both literally and metaphorically. The four of us were running through the streets, trying to find that one alley way which hid Castelia's City Bar from the eyes of regular citizens.

I turned the corner and heard a high-pitched shriek coming from further up the dark alley I was running in. I sped up and at the end of the alley was Daryl with his arms out-stretched protecting Dahlia who stood behind him, quivering in fear. The two of them were surrounded by eight Pawniard and two rather intimidating Bisharp, each one wearing those oh-so familiar masks. Despite the atmosphere, I couldn't help but notice how much the small army of pokemon resembled a chess team.

"Someone help!" Dahlia screamed, moving closer to Daryl in an attempt to hide herself from the pokemon's view. Daryl made a "tch" sound before pulling two pokeball from his belt.

"Looks like I have no choice but to fight." Daryl groaned, he threw his pokeball high into the air and released a fierce Zebstrika and an equally fierce Galvantula. The two pokemon began shooting bolts of electricity to fend off the surrounding pokemon. However, each time they shot a Pawniard down a previously felled one would get back up.

"I've got to do something!" I muttered to my self, letting my fingers hesitantly brush past the six pokeballs I carried. As fas as I knew, none of the pokemon I had on hand would be able to effectively combat the Steel-Dark chess pieces. I frowned to myself before tossing out my Durant, Cogley. He dug underground and made his way to where Daryl's pokemon were positioned, joining the fight.

"Ulrich! Daryl!" A voice shouted, I looked up and saw Gabrielle on the other side of the street, her eyes burning with a ferocity I never saw before. She sent a Beartic out faster than I could blink and immediately began engaging the pokemon in battle. With the aid of Beartic's powerful Brick Breaks, the two electric pokemon were able to make sure the Pawniards stayed down. With all of their subordinates down, the two Bisharp stepped forward from behind the unconscious bodies of their minions.

"Daryl, are you okay?" Gabrielle asked, running to stand beside the brown-haired man and Dahlia.

"Yeah, thanks!" Daryl said, flashing a smile. Did they forget that there were two other opponents in front of them? One Bisharp dashed up to the Beartic and struck it down with a powerful Metal Claw attack causing Gabrielle to shriek.

"Gah, Durant, use X-Scissor!" Cogley quickly scuttled forward and raising it's mandibles gave a powerful slash to the Bisharp, but the chess pokemon's body hardened immensely and the attack seemed to do nothing against it.

"Galvantula, use Electro Ball!" The spider charged up a sphere of electricity in its jaws. Daryl's Galvantula was aiming to release the attack when the second Bisharp seemed to appear out of nowhere it quickly delivered a powerful punch to the spider; sending it flying.

"Erache!" Daryl shouted! His pokemon was knocked out cold and he grit his teeth before ordering his Zebstrika to use Flame Charge. The zebra let out a whinny before pawing the ground, when it began to dash, flames gathered around its body. The Bisharp wasn't fast enough to dodge and it was tackled full force causing a loud crash to resonate through the air when it hit a brick wall.

"Come on Asparas! Get up!" Gabrielle pleaded. Her Beartic began to pick itself up, letting out a grunt when it had returned on its feat. "Alright, use another Brick Break!"

With a mighty swing of its arm, the Bisharp that had previously crashed into a wall was spent plummeting to the ground. The mask it wore shattered, leaving it knocked out.

"There's only one left!" I shouted, as Cogley continued its relentless onslaught of X-Scissors. The Bisharp it was fighting, however, seemed to parry each blow perfectly. My eyes widened when the blades on the Bisharp's arm elongated and with a swift strike my Durant was on the floor unconscious.

"What was that move?" I asked myself, as I returned Cogley back to his pokeball. I wasn't answered because another slice was delivered to Gabrielle's Beartic. The blade struck near its neck and blood came pouring out as the pokemon fell to the floor.

"Razim!" Gabrielle shrieked, she quickly ran to her pokemon and pulled out a potion, trying to treat the large wound on her pokemon's collar bone. She muttered "I'm sorry" continuously as tears streaked her face.

"Sagittarius, Double Kick!" After two swift kicks, the Bisharp was unconscious on the floor and Daryl raced over to help treat the injured polar bear pokemon. He applied the potion and then rubbed the wound with a disinfectant he had in his bag before quickly bandaging it.

"There, he should be good now, just don't use him in battle for a while." Daryl said, giving Gabrielle a comforting smile, Gabrielle's cheek flushed to a bright pink and she turned her head around so he couldn't see the apparent blush on her face as she returned her Beartic back to its ball.

"Hey, there you guys are!" Raymond shouted as he appeared in the alleyway with Michael behind him. Dahlia still looked a bit shook up and only nodded in response at the greeting.

"Wait, where are the other fifty people?" Michael noted.

"Oh, them? They're all inside the bar." Daryl knocked on the door in a pattern and a bar keeper opened it, with a large crowd of people inside. Daryl gave them the man a thumbs up and the man opened the door wider, letting all the people back out on the streets.

"Sorry we couldn't get here faster, we came from the other side of the neighbourhood," Raymond apologized, "but it looks like you guys handled the situation just fine, so all's well that ends well."

"Oh... Uh... Thank you." I turned my head to see Dahlia with a light blush on her cheeks. She looked several times more timid than I thought she could ever be.

"Um, you're welcome, I guess..."

"Wait, how did you guys know I was going to be here?" Daryl asked, casting a suspicious glare over me and Gabrielle.

"Well, uh, you see, we kinda got this tip-off..." I stammered. Of course telling him that we receive mystical future predicting e-mails every morning would be completely honest, but also completely unbelievable. I quickly looked at Gabrielle for a bit of back-up on my excuse.

"It was woman's intuition?" I proceeded to connect my palm with my face.

"Yeah, I don't think so, explanation, I need one." Daryl frowned.

"Okay, the truth is, we got an e-mail which predicted your death so we came running over, okay?" Raymond said, pulling out his pokedex and showing Daryl his inbox. Daryl's eyes scanned the e-mail over, and over, for almost five minutes before he returned the pokedex back to Raymond.

"It's unbelievable, but you guys are telling the truth... then again, you guys are just kids..."

"What are you talking about?" Michael asked.

"I've decided to supervise you guys! I'm not letting a bunch of fifteen year-olds run around on the streets trying to save people's lives. That'd be irresponsible." Daryl grinned.

"You're only a few years older than us and not that mature yourself." Michael countered.

"Well, it's too late, I've already decided that I'm coming with you guys."

* * *

The six of us (we took Dahlia with us) were walking down the main road. We avoided the streets where we heard harsh yells, shattering glass, and screams; knowing what they were. It was about four and like yesterday the streets were practically bare.

"You'd think this would be a ghost town instead of the most business-oriented city in Unova." I mused. The streets had the same talon marks, tipped over cars, and broken street lights as always.

"Where are you guys going?" Dahlia asked, she finally recovered from the near-death experience and was as chipper as she had been the day before.

"We're going to meet someone who can tell us a bit about he lockdown." I answered, Dahlia, Gabrielle and Daryl looked at me strangely, but for once, I didn't mind it.

"Are you crazy? Last time we went there we were fired at!" Gabrielle shouted, I understood why she was uncomfortable with the idea but I wanted to leave before Darkrai came and killed us all.

"Yeah, I know, but if Darkrai gets out we'll be comatose for the rest of our lives, what's the difference?" Raymond smiled jokingly.

"Well, one's painful and the other is painless." Dahlia said thoughtfully. I sighed but continued to lead our group back to the location of the underground tunnel. I opened the tile and climbed down, with Raymond following behind me, then Michael, Daryl, Dahlia, and lastly Gabrielle.

"Well, here we are again." Gabrielle frowned once her she reached the ground, "hopefully we won't get shot this time around."

"It's so dark... does anybody have a lantern?" Dahlia asked.

"Oh, I do!" Daryl said, he pulled out a pokeball and sent out a blue angler fish.

"I said lantern, not Lanturn!" Dahlia deadpanned. Daryl's Lanturn smiled and made a cheerful noise, it was probably blissfully ignorant of the situation at hand right now.

"Well, he'll do the job as well as any lantern, now, can you give us some light?" Daryl said, patting his pokemon on the back, or rather dorsal. It gave another happy cry and the two bulbs that hanged over its head lit up, providing us with a good source of light. The tunnel looked exactly like it did the last time around, dark, damp, and disgusting. It took a lot shorter of a walk before we were stopped this time around. It was only about five minutes in before a man's silhouette.

"Halt!" He shouted, a sudden jolt ran through my body as I heard the man raise his gun.

"Wait, please don't shoot! We're here to talk!" Raymond yelled back, his voice quivered and he was sweating bullets. The man was silent for a minute before he lowered his gun.

"You kids didn't send your pokemon after me." The said in a gruff voice. I let out a deep sigh and nodded befoore cautiously approaching him.

"We were told that this tunnel leads to outside Castelia City." I said a bit hesitantly. This guy, although not hostile at the moment still scared me.

"Well, that's correct but I'm afraid I can't let you through." He replied. We stood in silence for a while before he let out a sigh. "Follow me."

The tunnel was long, we walked for about fifteen minutes before we reached another ladder. The man grunted and started climbing.

"Are you kids coming or not?" He asked suddenly, causing me to jump. I quickly went for the ladder and began my way up. When we made it up the ladder, I noticed we were inside a subway station.

"Wow, I can't believe that moron was right." Raymond muttered as he looked around the station. The man gave us a questioning eyebrow and we fell silent.

"Now, why do you kids still have pokemon?" The man looked at us with a fierce gaze and I found myself shifting over so most of my body was hidden behind the bodies of my friends.

"Well, these pokedexes seem to be responsible for that." Michael replied, he took out his pokedex and began tinkering with it until a mess of codes appeared on the screen. He held out the device and the man bent over to get a closer look, his eyes quickly reading over the sequence.

"I see... Any pokeball you register into this device is unable of releasing pokemon because it disables that function." The man muttered. Michael nodded, before tucking his pokedex safely back inside his bag.

"So, can we leave now?" I asked quietly with my head facing-down.

"I'm afraid you can't, I'm not permitted to allow a single person out of here, hostile or not."

"But that's not fair! We just want to go home!" Dahlia wailed, I could see some tears forming in her eyes but she wiped them away quickly.

"Kids, Castelia City is the economic center of Unova. It wasn't easy for the government to make this decision. With Castelia cut off from the rest of the region, Unova is facing severe problems! So I cannot and will not let anyone through here."

"I... I see." Gabrielle muttered, shifting her gaze downwards. "I guess we'll go back then."

"Wait, before you go, take this." The man took out a pokedex of his own and tossed it at us, Dahlia caught it in her hands and looked up at him. "You'll need it more than me."

* * *

It was almost five o'clock when we made our way above ground. All of us were a bit disheartened at the fact our one escape route turned out to be a bust.

"Well, there's no way to escape." Daryl concluded, I picked my head up to look at him as he spoke.

"Are you saying we should give up?"

"Of course not, I mean since we can't get out of the lockdown, we'll have to make it unnecessary for the government to have a lockdown." He explained. His words made sense to me, but we didn't even know why the lockdown was happened in the first place.

"But, what about Darkrai" Gabrielle asked. "If he's coming we're all going to die tomorrow!"

"Then we're just gonna have to fight him!" Raymond decided with a fierce nod of his head. However that look faded when he saw our surprised faces staring at him. "What?"

"I always had a hunch, but you really are insane!" Michael cried out loud, waving his arms wildly. He nearly hit Gabrielle over the head while he was yelling and flailing. "Totally nuts. Off your rocker! Out of your mind!

I started laughing quietly but burst into hysterics when Michael actually did hit Gabrielle's head and she grabbed his arm and twisted it.

"Well, you know. If we want to survive we're going to have to find the Lunar Wing." Gabrielle said, she was still holding Michael's forearm in a twist, despite his grunts of pain.

"Right! Now, will you please let go of my arm?"

"Hey, guys! It's five, we should get moving. Raymond shouted, pulling out his pokedex. "Pokemon are scheduled to attack Central Park in half an hour."

"Didn't the e-mail say that the Kamiks or whatever would take care of it?" Daryl frowned as he moved closer to the pokedex to get a closer look.

"Take a look at your own pokedex!" Raymond scowled moving away from Daryl.

"Can't, I don't get these future predicting e-mails." We all looked at him strange, but he just shrugged in response.

"Well, the e-mails have been disproved before so just in case, I want to go." Raymond explained. He had a good point and no one else argued with him as we started a run to the park, destiny sure involves a lot of running.

When we arrived at the south-side of the park, there were several Kamiks fending off the hostile pokemon, but it looked like they were being over powered. There were Houndoom and Houndours breathing fire and biting people who couldn't get away. Those who were safe shouted when they saw us arrive with more pokemon.

"Look, those kids brought more pokemon to attack us!" A woman shouted.

"No! These pokemon are ours, we're here to help!" Raymond shouted back, but we didn't have time to explain further because once the masked pokemon spotted us they began to attack. I sent out my Venomoth and ordered it to use Sleep Powder, lulling several of the flame-dogs into sleep. From the corner of my eye I saw Dahlia throw a pokeball at a sleeping Houndour, and to my surprise it worked.

"You kids, what are you doing!" A man shouted, his clothes told me he was a Kamik but he didn't get an answer over the shouts and screams coming from everywhere around us.

"Erache, use Thunder!" The smell of ozone filled the air as a wicked bolt of lightning struck a large group of Houndours, casing their masks to fall apart, then subsequently faint.

"Artemis, Whirlpool!" Gabrielle's Dewgong summoned up a giant spinning top of water and sent it flying towards the canines and I couldn't help but wince at the yelps and cries of the injured pokemon. With several of their kin down, the remaining Houndoom ran past us, and to the north.

"They're getting away, we must not let them reach the refugees!" A Kamik shouted. The garbed group started running and we followed them.

At the north-side, several people were being backed into a corner by the Houndoom, I was about to command Venomoth to use Sleep Powder but a familiar voice spoke up first.

"Latias use Draco Meteor." A beautiful cry was heard and bright neon-colored meteors fell from the sky, striking the offending pokemon.

"Lady Ami, are you okay?" A Kamik asked, as he rushed towards her. She simply nodded and her passive face picked up a little when the applause started.

"Wow, the Kamiks are amazing!"

"They even have a legendary pokemon following them!"

All the refugees were clapping and the rest of us joined in as well. Ami's face turned a light shade of pink and she bowed at us before she and her followers left.

It was night, by the time we were back at the library we slept in last night. The man in charge of the shelter passed out some rations and we ate them in the darkness.

"So, tomorrow's the big day, huh? A real do or die moment?" Raymond said half-jokingly.

"That's right, I'm not going to let any of you die, or I'll bring you back from the underworld myself." Daryl replied. I simply nodded, I was getting tired and my eyes were drooping a bit.

"I don't know if I can help much, but I'll try." Even though sleeping was probably the last thing on my mind that night. Dahlia's voice was the last thing I heard before my mind drifted into a tired sleep.

* * *

**Now, I thought I wouldn't ever put an author's note in this fanfic, but, tomorrow is my one year anniversary here at FF and I would like to say it's been a wonderful experience. I'l like to thank my readers and reviewers for their support and I hope my writing's gotten better over the past year. Reviews are appreciated, especially the long helpful ones. ****That's all, thanks!**


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